A ladder is often used to reach high locations on a structure, such as a building, residential house, or office complex. The ladder typically has parallel longitudinal rails with rungs disposed therebetween along the longitudinal length of the rails.
For the safe use of a ladder, the ladder should be properly stabilized against the structure. A user typically ensures that the base of the ladder is positioned upon a stable surface or ground area, while the elongated dual rails of the ladder are positioned substantially vertically and leaning against the structure by an appropriate inclination angle. However, use of a ladder is still generally hazardous in that the ladder can oftentimes be moved, destabilized, and caused to fall away from proper engagement with the structure while the ladder is in use.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,444,291 to McPherson describes a ladder accessory for securing the upper end of a ladder to a structure to stabilize the ladder against the structure. Although not totally devoid of merit, this apparatus is an undesirably complex structure, requiring a sophisticated attachment mechanism that attaches to both rails of the ladder. Furthermore, the apparatus is expensive to produce and takes an inordinate amount of time to install.